Bible Verses About Humiliation and Self-Affliction

This is to be a permanent statute for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month, you shall humble yourselves and not do any work—whether the native or the foreigner who resides among you—

because on this day atonement will be made for you to cleanse you, and you will be clean from all your sins before the LORD.

It is a Sabbath of complete rest for you, that you may humble yourselves; it is a permanent statute.

Again the LORD said to Moses,

“The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. You shall hold a sacred assembly and humble yourselves, and present an offering made by fire to the LORD.

On this day you are not to do any work, for it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the LORD your God.

If anyone does not humble himself on this day, he must be cut off from his people.

I will destroy from among his people anyone who does any work on this day.

You are not to do any work at all. This is a permanent statute for the generations to come, wherever you live.

It will be a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you shall humble yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to keep your Sabbath.”

And there by the Ahava Canal I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask Him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions.

For I was ashamed to ask the king for an escort of soldiers and horsemen to protect us from our enemies on the road, since we had told him, “The hand of our God is gracious to all who seek Him, but His great anger is against all who forsake Him.”

So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and He granted our request.